Persian Empire 1845

Chapter 547 Financial Support
France has proactively declared war on both Prussia and Austria—an unprecedented move to wage war against two countries at once. Stocks related to military and mining industries have surged on stock exchanges worldwide; the Tehran stock exchange even hit its daily limit today, driving stock traders into a frenzy.

The capital market directly represented the mainstream public opinion at the time. In this financial collapse, Prussian stocks and bonds fell the most severely, which shows that the European public at the time did not have a positive outlook on Prussia.

In fact, France wasn't much better off; its government bonds, steel stocks, coal stocks, shipping stocks, food stocks, and other commodities all suffered a precipitous drop.

Fortunately, because some investors were optimistic about the probability of France winning, a large amount of money immediately began to come in to buy these stocks after they were halved.

Iranian stocks in Europe suffered losses to varying degrees, with only French stocks recovering somewhat and their share prices continuing to rise.

As for Austria, a major investment destination, military stocks rose by 5%, but government bond prices fell by 10%. Many people are pessimistic about Austria, arguing that it suffered heavy losses even in its war against Prussia, so how could it possibly fight France?
"Shah, this war has caused us huge losses in the stock market. Austria and Prussia lost more than 400 million, while France initially declined but then recovered. The Brussels branch sent a telegram saying they want to increase their purchases of French stocks."

Nasserdin rejected the proposal, telling Brussels to sell off its French stocks as soon as possible.

He twirled the pen in his hand and continued, "Have them prepare 5000 million riyals."

"5000 million?" the subordinate exclaimed in surprise.

"What, nothing?"

"No, no, no, we do have some, but we can only come up with a maximum of 6000 million in Europe. You've prepared 5000 million all at once. If the investment goes wrong in the future, this..."

Naserdin didn't want to hear that. Taking a cautious approach was the right thing to do, but at this juncture, he had to intervene.

"Just let them prepare. If there are any losses, I'll make up for them personally!"

His men had no choice but to send a telegram to Brussels to prepare funds, while simultaneously selling off French stocks. Nasserdin watched them leave before pulling out a Prussian telegram from his desk drawer, requesting a loan of 8000 million rials, equivalent to 2 million taels.

Prussia's demands were outrageous. Although the interest rate was 6%, such a large sum would be a heavy burden for any country, let alone the Shah, who held immense wealth.

According to a telegram from Berlin, after France declared war, the German Confederation Parliament finally relinquished some of its financial authority, approving 1.2 million tlers for military spending. But this amount was hardly enough; it vanished like water. This forced them to turn to Iran for assistance.

"Murad, take a look at this." Nasser al-Din handed the telegram to Murad beside him. "What do you think? Should we agree?"

After several months of training, Murad had gained a basic understanding of the world situation. He also knew about the conflict between Germany and France, and he began to express his own thoughts.

"Father, it seems France has the upper hand at present. But in reality, they have long been beset by crises. It was a foolish choice for Prussia and Austria to declare war together. If they were to fight Prussia, they might have a chance of success, but with Austria added to the mix, they simply cannot win. Unless they can launch a simultaneous attack from the north and south. Meanwhile, Bavaria, Hesse, Württemberg, Baden... have all sent telegrams expressing their determination to resist the French invasion with all their might!"

I believe that France cannot defeat Prussia and Austria, and we should agree to Prussia's demands.

The four southern states, which had previously been wary of Prussia, were now thoroughly enraged by the French! When news of the French Emperor's declaration of war against Prussia reached them, the people of the four states were in an uproar! National unity had been so easily forged by war.

Moreover, a considerable amount of time had passed since the start of the war. However, French preparations, transmitted through intelligence networks, had reached Baghdad—and were utterly incompetent. After the war began, the French were almost manic with their optimism. French generals arrogantly proclaimed that the Prussian army was "worthless," vowing to recreate the glory of the Battle of Jena, and even claiming they would capture Berlin before Napoleon III's birthday on August 15th, allowing the Emperor to celebrate his birthday there.

Although the French Minister of War boasted, "Our army is ready, down to the last button on the last soldier's shoe cover," the French army's mobilization capabilities were actually extremely poor. Generals couldn't even find a map of the Franco-Prussian border. The French army was in chaos after the emergency mobilization; some generals couldn't even find their own troops.

In contrast, Prussia had established a comprehensive military system for mobilization and logistical support a decade earlier. This system stipulated that each regional command would be responsible for mobilization and logistics. Each command maintained the latest reserve personnel manuals and stockpiled large quantities of clothing, equipment, and ammunition, enabling them to quickly assemble equipment and transport a corps to its designated assembly area upon receiving orders. The country's entire railway system was mobilized; civilian freight transport was suspended, and all locomotives and carriages were requisitioned to transport soldiers and military supplies.

Prussia's mobilization proceeded with clockwork precision. The French, on the other hand, were completely unprepared; camps couldn't be set up because no one knew where the tents were; railway schedules were nonexistent; some units lacked artillery, some lacked transport, and some lacked medical equipment; warehouses were empty, and fortresses were lacking supplies.

"Hmm, it seems you know a lot about Europe. Yes, it's not like the time of Napoleon I anymore. When France's opponents are the more powerful Prussia and Austria, his armies are no match for them."

A telegram was sent to Berlin stating that Iran had agreed to his request.

Consider it another investment, using royal funds rather than government revenue. The first installment of 3000 million rials arrived quickly through Vienna, and only after Prussia proved its capabilities could the remaining funds be deposited.

Austria also began a general mobilization, though not as large as Prussia's, but better than during the Austro-Prussian War. At least troops and supplies arrived on time and were deployed to the front lines.

On March 28, the people of the Apennine Peninsula were once again incited to protest Austria's occupation of Lombardy. The Kingdom of Italy declared war on Austria again, believing that with French support, they were certain to win. But unbeknownst to them, France was withdrawing its troops from the south, along with the 4000 garrison troops in Rome. Austria was not yet within reach, but Prussia was within easy reach.

(End of this chapter)